An overview of some of the key changes to health care services under the Affordable Care Act:

ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS

Under the law, health insurers must cover 10 essential benefits. This will make health plans more costly, but also more comprehensive. Starting next year, the rules will apply to all plans offered to individuals or through the small-group market to employers with 50 or fewer workers. The essential-benefits requirement does not apply to plans offered by larger employers, which typically offer most of these, already.

The covered benefits are: ambulatory patient services; emergency services; hospitalization; maternity and newborn care; mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment; prescription drugs; rehabilitative services and devices; laboratory services; management of chronic diseases, and preventive and wellness services; and pediatric services, including dental and vision care.

People will be able to pick from insurance plans with differing levels of coverage and varying costs for co-pays and premiums. But insurers will have to cover a certain percentage of the services' cost.

"Most of the important services people need are covered, though there may be a slight variation (from state to state)," says Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform for the Kaiser Family Foundation.

DENTAL-VISION

Need a teeth-cleaning or eye exam? You still could be reaching into your own wallet to cover the cost even after the Affordable Care Act takes full effect next year. Dental and vision care is considered an essential benefit for children aged 18 and younger whose parents or guardians get insurance through the individual or small-group plans. The law does not mandate this coverage for adults, but some states could choose to have them covered.

Still, getting dental coverage for children and teenagers might be a bit complicated depending on where you live. States can choose to offer those items as stand-alone plans, and federal subsidies would not help pay for the costs.

PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS

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Changes to health care under the law, at a glance